Choux au Craquelin: The Ultimate Home Baking Challenge

Combine 60g unsalted butter and 40g sugar powder in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth and creamy.

Add 60g flour and mix thoroughly, rubbing the butter into the flour and sugar with fingertips until no dry flour remains, forming a damp, crumbly meal.

Place the mixture between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out to 2mm thickness with a rolling pin.

Use a cookie cutter to cut out small disks of craquelin and place the dough, still between parchment sheets, in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Remove the craquelin from the freezer and set the rounds aside for later use, re-rolling scraps if desired.

Sift 55g flour and set aside for the choux pastry.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 40g butter, 5g white sugar, 85ml milk, and a pinch of salt, and switch off the heat as soon as it starts to boil.

Add 55g flour in one go, turn on to low heat, and whisk vigorously until it forms a smooth ball and no flour bits are visible, ready when a skin forms on the bottom.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and slowly add 2 eggs, whisking after each addition until the consistency is suitable for piping.

Put the mixture in a pastry bag and draw circles on oil paper using a cookie cutter.

Squeeze the batter into the circles and place the small craquelin disks on top.

Place the baking tray in the middle layer of a preheated oven and first bake at 200 °C for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170 °C and bake for around 20 minutes.

Let the puffs cool on a cooling rack.

While cooling, separate 3 egg yolks from 3 eggs and add 25g sugar and 25g starch, mixing well and setting aside.

Warm 260ml milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles appear around the edges.

Pour the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture while stirring to avoid clumping, then pour it back into the saucepan and stir at low heat until thick.

Add 10g butter and continue mixing, then transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to cool in the refrigerator.

Add 25g sugar to 160ml light cream and whip with an electric mixer at medium speed until a little texture appears on the surface.

Pour the custard mixture into the whipped cream and mix well, then put the mixture in a pastry bag.

Poke a hole at the bottom of each puff and squeeze the prepared custard cream filling into it.

Equipment Needed

Spice Level: